Premiership Rugby announce new Salary Cap regulations

Premiership Rugby today confirmed the newly approved Salary Cap regulations for Aviva Premiership Rugby clubs.
All Aviva Premiership Rugby Clubs are now subject to a new, more transparent, Salary Cap monitoring and investigation system.  Following a detailed consultation by the Salary Cap Manager with all of the Clubs on the operation and management of the Salary Cap, the Premiership Rugby Board has recently approved increased monitoring, investigation and transparency systems to support this important area of Premiership Rugby business.
Premiership Rugby may now undertake an Investigatory Audit in addition to the current annual Salary Cap audit which can involve using independent experts, to access relevant records held by a club who are suspected of breaching the regulations. There will also be clear sanctions to deal with any Club failing to co-operate.
The announcement follows comments made by the Mark Cueto last week claiming it was “obvious” certain clubs in the league were dodging the system.
The new system also means that any clubs suspected of breaching the Salary Cap will be subject to a confidential disciplinary hearing with the sanction of both a points deduction and fine available. Any breach and the sanction will be made public.
Sport Resolutions UK, will run the disciplinary procedure, appointing an independent panel of legal experts and overseeing any appeal procedure.
“As a collective, Premiership Rugby and its clubs led the way in England when in 1999 they introduced their Salary Cap in order to ensure the continuing financial viability of all clubs,” said Premiership Rugby Chief Executive, Mark McCafferty.
“Their objective was to control inflationary pressures on clubs’ costs, and to provide a level playing field for clubs to ensure a competitive Aviva Premiership Rugby competition.
“These objectives are borne out in the financial success the league is now seeing, with a healthy turnover of teams at the top of the league. We have also had three different winners of the Aviva Premiership Rugby competition in as many years, in the most competitive league in world rugby (highest number of games finishing in less than one score compared to any other rugby competition in the world).
“Having a compelling and unpredictable Aviva Premiership Rugby competition is at the centre of Premiership Rugby’s strategic objectives. It is a crucial factor in increasing the commercial value of the competition through its new broadcaster, BT Sport, and seeing the renewal of its title sponsor, Aviva.”